Hi all,
Medlarrsonn Plaidheart here back from an 8 year break (like everyone else, it seems). I've been sticking with it using my sniping rogue build for the last few weeks since I got back, but it's been tough. I know the grass is always greener on the other side of the Sword and Board fence, but I just wanted a little advice. Current info:
*Sweep Master
* Voln Master
Medlarrsonn (at level 39), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 142 42
Combat Maneuvers...................| 144 44
Ranged Weapons.....................| 182 82
Ambush.............................| 182 82
Physical Fitness...................| 142 42
Dodging............................| 182 82
Arcane Symbols.....................| 50 10
Harness Power......................| 25 5
Disarming Traps....................| 192 92
Picking Locks......................| 193 93
Stalking and Hiding................| 223 123
Perception.........................| 185 85
Climbing...........................| 70 15
Swimming...........................| 70 15
Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 4
Training Points: 19 Phy 0 Mnt (136 Phy converted to Mnt)
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)
Shadow Mastery smastery 4
Specialization I wspec1 2
Vanish vanish 2
Name: Medlarrsonn Plaidheart Race: Giantman Profession: Rogue (shown as: Shadowwalker)
Gender: Male Age: 55 Expr: 1689582 Level: 39
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 89 (34) ... 89 (34)
Constitution (CON): 83 (26) ... 72 (21)
Dexterity (DEX): 96 (18) ... 96 (18)
Agility (AGI): 98 (19) ... 98 (19)
Discipline (DIS): 77 (13) ... 77 (13)
Aura (AUR): 96 (18) ... 96 (18)
Logic (LOG): 72 (6) ... 72 (6)
Intuition (INT): 77 (13) ... 77 (13)
Wisdom (WIS): 66 (8) ... 66 (8)
Influence (INF): 44 (2) ... 44 (2)
Sorry for the spam. In all honesty, all I really want to be able to do is pick my own boxes and crit the hell out of things. For armor I've got FGB. It seems like I'm always falling out of hiding / getting sniffed out. I'm pretty sure I went this way because I was attracted to the AS bonuses from bows/eblading/perception etc. What are some possible builds to look into? I'm open to any weapon type, just want to do the aforementioned things. I've read the art of the bow business on Krakii, but just wanted some people advice.
Thanks in advance, y'all, and it's good to be back.
Med
SCHLOSS-H
JARHEAD
Re: Back
09/16/2014 12:47 PM CDT
I'm not a master of rogues by any means, but what I see looks pretty good as far as the sniping side of the house, stats and skills wise. You say you're getting sniffed out of hiding a lot and I think that's probably because you're hunting something that has above average perception. I don't know where or what you hunt so I can't make that determination. I do know that one of the best picking builds is ranged and you look pretty good there though. Keep at it and welcome back!
Radeek Andoran
General, Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq
Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato
Radeek Andoran
General, Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq
Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato
THROGG
Re: Back
09/16/2014 04:01 PM CDT
SOme critters are deaf, dumb and blind, others are hard to hide on. Animals and non-corporeal undead fall into the latter category; kiramon are also pretty perceptive. You are about as well trained in S&H as you can get, so that's not the problem.
You say that you keep getting sniffed out from hiding. You might try picking up some MIU, say maybe 15 ranks, and collecting a bunch of tiny pearls. Tiny pearls are natural orbs; ask a friendly cleric to bless unpresence into them (spell 204, if I recall). Unpresence does not help you hide, but does give a bonus toward staying hidden when they are trying to search you out. Hide in an adjacent room from the critters, with unpresence in effect, then sneak in and attack. That may help, especially in borderline cases.
"For the female of the species
is more deadly than the male."
You say that you keep getting sniffed out from hiding. You might try picking up some MIU, say maybe 15 ranks, and collecting a bunch of tiny pearls. Tiny pearls are natural orbs; ask a friendly cleric to bless unpresence into them (spell 204, if I recall). Unpresence does not help you hide, but does give a bonus toward staying hidden when they are trying to search you out. Hide in an adjacent room from the critters, with unpresence in effect, then sneak in and attack. That may help, especially in borderline cases.
"For the female of the species
is more deadly than the male."
OM1E5GA
Re: Back
09/16/2014 05:57 PM CDT
<<You say that you keep getting sniffed out from hiding. You might try picking up some MIU, say maybe 15 ranks, and collecting a bunch of tiny pearls. Tiny pearls are natural orbs; ask a friendly cleric to bless unpresence into them (spell 204, if I recall). Unpresence does not help you hide, but does give a bonus toward staying hidden when they are trying to search you out. Hide in an adjacent room from the critters, with unpresence in effect, then sneak in and attack. That may help, especially in borderline cases. >>
I noticed that they don't have their CMAN or ARMOR skills listed.... if you don't have any ranks in the Shadow Mastery CMAN it will help with hiding and staying hidden against perceptive critters like the undead or four legged critters. Also, getting ranks in Armored Stealth (or getting someone with the ranks to adjust your armor for you) will also give a bonus to stealth rolls.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
I noticed that they don't have their CMAN or ARMOR skills listed.... if you don't have any ranks in the Shadow Mastery CMAN it will help with hiding and staying hidden against perceptive critters like the undead or four legged critters. Also, getting ranks in Armored Stealth (or getting someone with the ranks to adjust your armor for you) will also give a bonus to stealth rolls.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
THROGG
Re: Back
09/16/2014 10:26 PM CDT
>> noticed that they don't have their CMAN or ARMOR skills listed.... if you don't have any ranks in the Shadow Mastery CMAN it will help with hiding and staying hidden <<
Actually, he lists 4 ranks in shadow mastery. However, he doesn't state if he's getting spotted with this in effect or not.
"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."
Actually, he lists 4 ranks in shadow mastery. However, he doesn't state if he's getting spotted with this in effect or not.
"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."
COYOTERRE
Re: Back
09/17/2014 12:50 AM CDT
Welcome back! :-)
As others have pointed out, your skills look pretty sharp for sniping; what's killing you is your level and what you're hunting, and that's why you're coming out of hiding. Sniping with archery takes a long time to refine and be good enough to do consistently. But I can tell you as a capped ranger with very good sniping skills and max hiding, I still don't always stay hidden against like level creatures - there's always a hidden roll. My younger archer is not quite your level, but I don't even bother sniping with him, despite the bonuses, because of getting pulled out of hiding.
It simply takes time to be effective, and relying upon sniping as your primary defense is always a risk. The simplest advice seems to be implied: find less perceptive creatures - I don't think you can tweak your stats or skills significantly to change your current results, especially for what it will cost you to be able to do that.
~ Turinrond's player.
~ Bill, Coyote.
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius
As others have pointed out, your skills look pretty sharp for sniping; what's killing you is your level and what you're hunting, and that's why you're coming out of hiding. Sniping with archery takes a long time to refine and be good enough to do consistently. But I can tell you as a capped ranger with very good sniping skills and max hiding, I still don't always stay hidden against like level creatures - there's always a hidden roll. My younger archer is not quite your level, but I don't even bother sniping with him, despite the bonuses, because of getting pulled out of hiding.
It simply takes time to be effective, and relying upon sniping as your primary defense is always a risk. The simplest advice seems to be implied: find less perceptive creatures - I don't think you can tweak your stats or skills significantly to change your current results, especially for what it will cost you to be able to do that.
~ Turinrond's player.
~ Bill, Coyote.
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius
VERSIN
Re: Back
09/17/2014 11:04 AM CDT
In addition to the accurate advice of others:
I would suggest reducing your armor use to 30 ranks (for brig) until you get closer to the 80 you need for MBP.
Unfortunately for a Voln master undead are generally uber perceptive, I avoid them completely on my sniper.
As a sweep master you may want to sweep first before sniping.
I like SURGE for a CMAN over WSPEC, the RT reduction is better than the small AS gain.
I would suggest reducing your armor use to 30 ranks (for brig) until you get closer to the 80 you need for MBP.
Unfortunately for a Voln master undead are generally uber perceptive, I avoid them completely on my sniper.
As a sweep master you may want to sweep first before sniping.
I like SURGE for a CMAN over WSPEC, the RT reduction is better than the small AS gain.
SCHLOSS-H
Re: Back
09/23/2014 05:47 AM CDT
Won't hurt me in any other department to just have 30 armor until I'm ready for MBP? If so, that'd be great. I don't see myself switching armors for quite some time.
Surge is probably better than WSPEC, but I start getting into a stamina crunch when I'm sweeping, keeping smastery active, and surging as well... I'll have to try it though. Thank you for the advice!
Surge is probably better than WSPEC, but I start getting into a stamina crunch when I'm sweeping, keeping smastery active, and surging as well... I'll have to try it though. Thank you for the advice!
THROGG
Re: Back
09/23/2014 02:01 PM CDT
>> but I start getting into a stamina crunch when I'm sweeping, keeping smastery active, and surging as well<<
You aren't supposed to be able to use all CMan and Guild skills all at once. You have to know your limitations. My rogue has 96 stamina; I know from experience that this means she can use vanish exactly three times, with a wee bit left over for the occasional sweep or what have you. So, I have to pick and choose. I try to use regular hiding as much as possible, (supplemented by Unpresence imbeds), reserving vanish and shadow mastery for more urgent situations. She uses strength imbeds and a strength enhancive to replace using surge; that again is reserved for serious emergencies. Too bad she isn't like my empath, who has 280 ranks of PF training and 178 stamina (but few CM skills to use it with!). So far, I haven't come across any scrolls with adrenal surge, but if I find one, you can be sure I am going to have some sorceror infuse the heck out of it. Hunting with an empath is another reasonable alternative.
The Bells of Hell
go ding-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
You aren't supposed to be able to use all CMan and Guild skills all at once. You have to know your limitations. My rogue has 96 stamina; I know from experience that this means she can use vanish exactly three times, with a wee bit left over for the occasional sweep or what have you. So, I have to pick and choose. I try to use regular hiding as much as possible, (supplemented by Unpresence imbeds), reserving vanish and shadow mastery for more urgent situations. She uses strength imbeds and a strength enhancive to replace using surge; that again is reserved for serious emergencies. Too bad she isn't like my empath, who has 280 ranks of PF training and 178 stamina (but few CM skills to use it with!). So far, I haven't come across any scrolls with adrenal surge, but if I find one, you can be sure I am going to have some sorceror infuse the heck out of it. Hunting with an empath is another reasonable alternative.
The Bells of Hell
go ding-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
THROGG
Re: Back
09/23/2014 04:36 PM CDT
>> but I start getting into a stamina crunch when I'm sweeping, keeping smastery active, and surging as well... I'll have to try it though<<
I'm still in brig, but went to 50 ranks armor. I will need it later on anyway, hen I go to hauberk, and 50 ranks let me get a second rank of armor evasion skill.
"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."
I'm still in brig, but went to 50 ranks armor. I will need it later on anyway, hen I go to hauberk, and 50 ranks let me get a second rank of armor evasion skill.
"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."
OM1E5GA
Re: Back
09/23/2014 05:12 PM CDT
<Won't hurt me in any other department to just have 30 armor until I'm ready for MBP? If so, that'd be great. I don't see myself switching armors for quite some time.>
I'm at level 73 and still in brig with no problems. Moving up to MBP will help you when you do get hit, but will also make it harder to stay in hiding when firing your bow... meaning you'll be more likely to be hit more often.
In the cap/near cap hunting grounds you might want to start thinking on moving up in armor more seriously, but until then I'd stick to brig unless you're having serious troubles staying in the shadows. If you're timing's good, you should have enough skill in S&H that you shouldn't have many problems staying hidden and should be able to use CMAN VANISH to quickly get back into the shadows when you do fall out of them (unless you're prone to typos and that keeps VANISH from working like it did to me in minotaurs yesterday).
<Surge is probably better than WSPEC, but I start getting into a stamina crunch when I'm sweeping, keeping smastery active, and surging as well...>
I wouldn't get either until you have VANISH, DIVERT, and SMASTERY where you want them. SURGE is good for reducing your RT when firing yer bow, getting yer encumbrance down to get past climbing/swimming checks, and dragging bodies. WSPEC isn't really much use for archers at all. The other three will keep you alive in sticky situations.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
I'm at level 73 and still in brig with no problems. Moving up to MBP will help you when you do get hit, but will also make it harder to stay in hiding when firing your bow... meaning you'll be more likely to be hit more often.
In the cap/near cap hunting grounds you might want to start thinking on moving up in armor more seriously, but until then I'd stick to brig unless you're having serious troubles staying in the shadows. If you're timing's good, you should have enough skill in S&H that you shouldn't have many problems staying hidden and should be able to use CMAN VANISH to quickly get back into the shadows when you do fall out of them (unless you're prone to typos and that keeps VANISH from working like it did to me in minotaurs yesterday).
<Surge is probably better than WSPEC, but I start getting into a stamina crunch when I'm sweeping, keeping smastery active, and surging as well...>
I wouldn't get either until you have VANISH, DIVERT, and SMASTERY where you want them. SURGE is good for reducing your RT when firing yer bow, getting yer encumbrance down to get past climbing/swimming checks, and dragging bodies. WSPEC isn't really much use for archers at all. The other three will keep you alive in sticky situations.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
THROGG
Re: Back
09/24/2014 01:42 AM CDT
>>unless you're prone to typos and that keeps VANISH from working like it did to me in minotaurs yesterday).<<
Macros are your friends.
"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."
Macros are your friends.
"So, what does that green line on the graph represent?"
"Oh, that's the projection of a hypothetical offspring from a union between Sauron and Cruella de Ville; we use that as a baseline for determining character alignment."
RATHBONER
Re: Back
09/24/2014 05:49 AM CDT
>>unless you're prone to typos and that keeps VANISH from working like it did to me in minotaurs yesterday).<<
>gm van
Gamemaster Vanah is here to fix typos and help you display your anguish at failing to hide and being offed by that minotaur even more sorrowfully.
>Macros are your friends.
You really have to have one for VANISH. The typing RT uses up the time that vanish is saving you otherwise.
I haven't actually put vanish in attack macros, but the number of UAC attacks that its worth using from ambush are sufficiently small that I might get around to making an instant vanish version of each of them rather than hitting the vanish macro with my left hand immediately after the attack one with my right when I want to do the silent striking.
>gm van
Gamemaster Vanah is here to fix typos and help you display your anguish at failing to hide and being offed by that minotaur even more sorrowfully.
>Macros are your friends.
You really have to have one for VANISH. The typing RT uses up the time that vanish is saving you otherwise.
I haven't actually put vanish in attack macros, but the number of UAC attacks that its worth using from ambush are sufficiently small that I might get around to making an instant vanish version of each of them rather than hitting the vanish macro with my left hand immediately after the attack one with my right when I want to do the silent striking.
OM1E5GA
Re: Back
09/24/2014 07:47 AM CDT
<Macros are your friends.>
Only if you remember they're there.... which I never do when hunting. Which is why all my macro spots are used up by Star's limericks and I have a hundred short scripts in Stormfront that I use in place of macros when hunting.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
Only if you remember they're there.... which I never do when hunting. Which is why all my macro spots are used up by Star's limericks and I have a hundred short scripts in Stormfront that I use in place of macros when hunting.
Starchitin
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
THROGG
Re: Back
09/24/2014 05:06 PM CDT
>> Which is why all my macro spots are used up by Star's limericks and I have a hundred short scripts in Stormfront that I use in place of macros when hunting.<<
Ha! I did exactly the opposite; my limericks (and love songs to my S.O.) are all on scripts, (using "recite", "sing", and "sing to" commands) with pauses every two lines to simulate catching my breath. Leaves plenty of keys for combat macros. I have those all set up in diagonal keyboard order, to help me remember which is which. I'm now hunting trolls and giants in stone valley, so alt-Q, alt-A, alt-Z, for example, are: stance off\r punch troll left leg\r, stance off\r punch troll head\r, and stance def\r hide\r respectively. Alt-W, S and X are the same, but with giants as targets. Alt-V is vanish (V for vanish; clever, huh?). Alt-R and alt-F, in the same diagonal row, are also emergency keys; stunman stand and stunman stance, for those occasions that I get tagged and stunned.
"For the female of the species
is more deadly than the male."
Ha! I did exactly the opposite; my limericks (and love songs to my S.O.) are all on scripts, (using "recite", "sing", and "sing to" commands) with pauses every two lines to simulate catching my breath. Leaves plenty of keys for combat macros. I have those all set up in diagonal keyboard order, to help me remember which is which. I'm now hunting trolls and giants in stone valley, so alt-Q, alt-A, alt-Z, for example, are: stance off\r punch troll left leg\r, stance off\r punch troll head\r, and stance def\r hide\r respectively. Alt-W, S and X are the same, but with giants as targets. Alt-V is vanish (V for vanish; clever, huh?). Alt-R and alt-F, in the same diagonal row, are also emergency keys; stunman stand and stunman stance, for those occasions that I get tagged and stunned.
"For the female of the species
is more deadly than the male."
